Philadelphia Phillies history on December 24

  • December 24, 1969: Curt Flood refuses to report after being traded to the Phillies and sends his famous letter to Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, helping ignite the legal fight that eventually helped bring free agency to MLB.
  • December 24, 2013: Outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr. signs a minor league contract with the Phillies that included an invitation to big-league spring training; he would go on to make the 2014 Opening Day roster.
  • December 24, 2022: The Phillies sign right-hander Jake Jewell to a minor league contract (one of those depth moves that tends to get made quietly in late December).

Philadelphia Phillies-related birthdays on December 24

  • James Norwood (born 1993) — Norwood has pitched in MLB and spent his final season in the majors with the Philadelphia Phillies, pitching in 20 games with an ERA of 8.31. He also pitched for the Cubs and Padres prior to the Phillies.
  • Kevin Millwood (born 1974) — Veteran right-handed pitcher who was part of the Phillies organization after being acquired from the Atlanta Braves for catcher Johnny Estrada. He pitched 16 seasons in the majors with Atlanta, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Texas, Baltimore, Colorado, and Seattle.
  • John Brackenridge (born 1880) — Born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Brackenridge appeared in seven MLB games, all with the Phillies in 1904. He finished with a 5.56 ERA and in 34 innings, he walked 16 and struck out 11.
  • Dave Coble (born 1912) — Like Brackenridge, Coble played just one season in the majors and it was with the Phillies. The catcher played 15 games and hit .280 for the 1939 Philadelphia Phillies and later managed in the minor leagues.

A DEEPER DIVE… Kevin Millwood

Kevin Millwood arrived in Philadelphia because the Phillies were trying to turn a promising but incomplete roster into a real contender. On December 20, 2002, the Phillies traded backup catcher Johnny Estrada to the Atlanta Braves for Millwood. A key part of the context is that Millwood was coming off an 18-win season for the Braves in 2002, and the Phillies were looking for a legitimate rotation anchor to pair with their growing core.

Atlanta traded because he was both expendable and expensive relative to their roster, not because of any lack of belief in his ability. The Braves already had a Hall of Fame–caliber rotation core in place and trusted their pitching development pipeline to replace his innings internally, making Millwood a luxury rather than a necessity. At the same time, he was entering his final year before free agency and due for a significant raise, which didn’t fit Atlanta’s payroll priorities. Rather than risk losing him for nothing, the Braves targeted a specific organizational need and accepted a modest return in Johnny Estrada, a young catcher they viewed as a long-term piece. The deal looks light in hindsight, but at the time it reflected Atlanta’s confidence in its pitching depth and its willingness to trade from surplus to address a more pressing weakness.

His time with the Phillies

Millwood’s first season in red pinstripes (2003) is the one everyone remembers, because it contained one of the defining pitching moments in modern Phillies history. On April 27, 2003, he threw a no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants at Veterans Stadium, winning 1–0. The game is well remembered because it wasn’t a 9–0 cruise. It was tense, tight, and dramatic with Millwood striking out 10 and walking three.

That season wasn’t just about one afternoon, either. Millwood took the ball constantly and gave the Phillies bulk innings. Millwood made 35 starts, tied for second in the NL, and he tied a career high with three shutouts. He finished 2003 with a 14–12 record, and the “feel” of that year was a pitcher doing heavy lifting for a club that was trying to climb out of the middle.

In 2004, he remained a key piece, but the season was choppier. The results weren’t as clean, and his year ended up being more “solid innings and stretches of dominance” than “front-page ace every fifth day.” His 2004 line with the Phillies included a 9-6 record and a 4.85 ERA.

How he left Philadelphia

Millwood didn’t leave via trade. He hit free agency twice during his Phillies tenure, which is a big part of how his Philly story reads.

After the 2003 season, he was granted free agency in late October, and the Phillies re-signed him on December 7, 2003. The next winter brought a very early-2000s Phillies subplot: contract wrangling. In February 2004, he settled his arbitration case with the Phillies on a one-year, $11 million deal.

After the 2004 season, Millwood was again granted free agency, and this time he departed, signing with the Cleveland Indians on January 8, 2005.

Millwood turned out to be a guy that the Phillies targeted to lead a staff, and he delivered one of the most iconic single-game pitching performances in franchise history with that 2003 no-hitter at the Vet. Beyond that, his Phillies time is also a snapshot of that era: the organization aggressively trying to upgrade pitching around a rising core, then living with the financial churn that came with it.

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